The Misfits - Static Age, Mix-Down Tape Feb. 1978 (White Trash Soul Real R'n'R No.18)

 

It's hard to imagine just how much of an impact "Static Age" would have had if it had been released in 1978, as originally intended. Considering the hostility between the Misfits members, however, we should be grateful that it ultimately saw an official release in 1996. What I really like about that era is the absence of the campy horror punk aesthetic that they later developed and became widely known for. The Misfits look pretty much like every other punk rock band of this period but this hasn't stopped Glenn Danzig from ignoring the sociopolitical issues of the time. In his Elvis/Jim Morrison style, he sang about JFK's bullet-ridden body, Patty Hearst's kidnapping turning left-wing guerrilla bank robber and every other perverted thought that had occurred to his teenage brain. Now that I think about it, perhaps he did write political songs after all... Anyway. 

At the time, both Mercury and the Misfits were using the name 'Blank Records'. Our New Jersey psychos had already released their embryonic "Cough/Cool" and "She" recordings through their Blank imprint and Mercury wanted full ownership. In exchange for the name, Mercury suits offered them a swap: 20 hours of free studio time and the recordings has began. The end result made the band feel proud but they had a problem, no label was willing to release it. According to Jerry Only, they talked to every label - even Sire, which had The Ramones, Dead Boys, DMZ and the Voidoids on their roster but they passed on it! The (legendary) "Bullet" EP, released via Danzig's own label (Plan 9), featured four of the "Static Age" tracks: 'Bullet', 'We Are 138', 'Attitude' and 'Hollywood Babylon'. After Franché Coma and Mr Jim left in the middle of a tour in 1980, Only and Danzig decided that the "Static Age" was cursed and shelved it.

The 14 tracks of "Static Age Mix-Down Tape Feb.78" as I said in the first lines, were supposedly intended for release on the "Static Age" LP that same year. In 1986, Curtis Casella of Taang! Records made and distributed a tape containing eight songs from Glenn's vault. Of course, this was done without permission. This tape and a later CD-R bootleg of the same name were the only sources available to fans. (This is the CD-R that I am offering you in this post, which contains the complete set of songs). So, when Danzig finally provided the original multi-track masters for a standalone release, hardcore Misfits fans and completists took note that the original 1978 mix-down sequence of "Static Age" had actually been used on disc 4 of the Coffin shaped Misfits box set (based on Franché Coma's copy), rather than the remastered and overdubbed versions on "Legacy of Brutality" from 1985-86 or the re-remastered editions on "Collection II" (1995). 

In any case, this is the best place to hear the Misfits' best line-up as intended: Undubbed, unremastered and raw. This recording, originally from the 7.5 ips reel-to-reel, includes the microphone pop at the end of 'Come Back' or the conversation before 'Theme for a Jackal', both of which were edited out of the officially released versions. I would put these recordings at the very top of the list of the ten best punk rock ever produced, no matter what period or decade you look at.